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There's no fight left in Mundine, says arch rival Green

Daniel Lane

WORLD IBO cruiserweight champion Danny Green has slammed the door on a rematch with Anthony Mundine, branding his one-time arch rival a has-been of no interest to him.

Mundine defeated Green by points decision in their 2006 world title elimination bout after Green suffered for dropping too much weight to fight at super-middleweight. The West Australian said at the time that while Mundine was the deserved winner of their fight, it shocked him that despite his being out of energy after the opening round Mundine failed to knock him out.

Green, who turns 40 next month, said he could not be bothered giving Mundine ''an opportunity''.

''I've moved on, well and truly,'' he said. ''I've moved up two divisions, won a world title [as a light-heavyweight] and two [as a cruiserweight], knocked out Roy Jones jnr - a future Hall of Famer - and with Mundine watching at ringside, took on Antonio Tarver, [the WBC cruiserweight champion], Krzysztof Wlodarczyk and Shane Cameron. I took on the biggest and baddest, and I won some and lost some.

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''I'm happy I have won the respect of the people and the boxing public. My legacy far surpasses what he [Mundine] has achieved.''

Green said he believed it was over for Mundine because the former rugby league star proved against Daniel Geale this week that he lacked a key component to being a genuine big-time fighter.

''He doesn't have the ability to take risks, there is a chromosome missing in his brain that says 'take a risk' to turn a fight on its end,'' he told Fairfax Media. ''He had one chance of winning, and that was by KO but he has no power … the poor bloke couldn't bruise a grape.''

Green added he could not explain why Mundine thought he defeated Geale, such was the IBF champion's dominance over 12 rounds.

''I've told people he must've sucked back a bottle of moonshine in between his leaving the ring to doing his interviews because he was delirious,'' he said.

Mundine, who quit rugby league in 2000 to become a fighter, said in the build-up to his defeat by Geale that the State of Origin coach has never proudly claimed his Aboriginal heritage.

However, Daley, who will coach the Indigenous All Stars team in next week's annual clash against the NRL All Stars in Brisbane, refused to get involved in a war of words with the former St George Illawarra and Brisbane star.

''For me, I know that 'Choc' was promoting his fight, and he is a guy that I have never had an issue with,'' Daley said. ''What Anthony says and does I cannot control. I recognise him as a wonderful talent not only on a rugby league field and in a boxing ring.

''I have been around, I know who I am, I know where I am from, and my family do as well.''